What the Future Holds
by ShellRae007
Summary: Hermione, after finding out she is pregnant, doesn't know what to do, as she is about to make a rash decision, someone steps in to give her a glimpse of what her future may hold without ron
1. Default Chapter

I don't own it!

It had been a long seven years, but the end was fast approaching.  The "Dream Team" of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was closing in on their graduation and the halls were abuzz with talk of the future.  In the Gryffindor common room, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter were also speculating.

"So Harry, what do you s'pose it'll be like, I mean being an auror after You Kno- I mean Voldemort is gone?"  Ron shifted in the plush red couch, trying to get comfortable.  His cheeks already came close to matching the couch, since the two friends had just come back from their last quidditch practice of the year.  There weren't even games left, so this practice was just a farewell to the seventh years.  Ginny, who was already picked to be captain next year, even managed to sneak a cake from the kitchens that said "GOOD LUCK HARRY POTTER and ron weasley"  Dobby hadn't imagined that Harry would ever be sharing the spotlight with anyone, so he hadn't put Ron's name on until Ginny came to pick up the cake and made him add it.  Not that Ron seemed to mind, "Ginny dis ih gweat!"  Ginny rolled her eyes at her older brother and tried not look at the crumbs dribbling down his shirt.

Back in the common room:

"Well there are still Deatheaters out there, Ron, so it's not like there won't be any work for us.  But Ron, I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"Well, with you going off to play for the Canons, what's going to happen with you and Hermione?"

"What d'ya mean?" Ron turned his attention to his robes, and slowly began picking off crumbs, pieces of lint, dust, etc.

"Well, you two have been very serious this year, are you going to do the long distance thing?  You're going to be traveling with the team, and Mione will be here, working in the ministry, how are you going to do it?"  Ron started picking a hole in his robes, after running out of dust and lint, he started unconsciously unraveling a loose thread he found poking out right over his stomach. "Ron?"  Harry's emerald eyes were baring down on the redhead, and Ron's cheeks were turning more crimson by the second.

"armg and ldkadkh bealkd" he mumbled

"What?"  

"WELL I'M NOT READY TO GET MARRIED IF THAT'S WHAT YOU MEAN!"  Ron enunciated every syllable.  He then jumped up, and stormed off to the dormitory.  As he was entering the stairwell to the dorms, he thought he heard a quiet sob, but passed it off as nothing and continued stomping up to bed.

In the stairwell to the girl's dormitory, Hermione Granger was standing quietly against the wall.  She had just been on her way down to the common room to meet up with her best friend and her boyfriend, with some exciting news.  Now she tried to reevaluate to figure out just how this news would hit.  She had been very happy when she performed the pregnancy test spell just minutes before.  She and Ron were finishing their studies, and had brilliant career plans.  As she stood against the cold stone wall, her mind running a million miles a minute, she began to realize that maybe Ron didn't want to be the father that she had expected him to be…and she began planning a new life for herself, and her child, without the redhead she loved in the picture. 


	2. thick

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hermione crept slowly up the steps to the girl's dormitory.  She tucked a strand of her warm brown hair behind her ear and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. 

*What to do? What to do?  Think Granger, you're not the smartest girl in Hogwarts for nothing… Okay, well we finish up here in two weeks, I definitely won't be showing that soon.  But what about working at the ministry?  Word will definitely get back to Ron and Harry if I am working there…hmmm…*

Hermione suddenly realized that she had already managed to make her way up to her dormitory.  She walked over to the portrait at the end of the stairs and gave the password, "bookworm".  It was nice having a private room, just one of the perks of being head girl.  Hermione sighed and sat in her desk chair, her favorite place to think, apart from the library, of course.  She absentmindedly pulled out a parchment and ink and began writing.

Dear Ms. Kendrick,

I am writing to put in a minor request.  I understand that I have not yet began my employment with the Maintenance of Muggle Secrecy Department, but I am venturing to request that I begin working overseas, perhaps at the American ministry?  I would really like to try life in another country, and I feel I can be much more useful to the ministry there.

Hermione signed the letter, and sent it off with her school assigned head girl owl, Callista.  With a finger to her lips she made a quiet shushing noise to the large black owl, picked up an owl treat from her top drawer, and sent off the great bird.

Down in the Great Hall, Harry was wondering where his other best friend was, as he stared at Ron shoving his fifth helping of mashed potatoes into his mouth.  Even after seven years, he still was amazed at Ron's eating habits.  

"Ron, where's Hermione? I haven't seen her all day."

Ron took a swig of pumpkin juice, swallowed and replied "Well gee Harry, I don't keep track of her, you know, she is very busy, she probably has some head girl stuff or something like that to do."  Harry's eyes widened at his friend's indifference.  Ron and Hermione were quite the couple, pretty much attached at the hip, so Harry couldn't understand Ron's sudden change of heart.

"Ok, well I'm going to go look for- Hey! Hermione, where have you been? I was just going to come find you." Harry sat back down as Hermione approached Ron, gave him their traditional peck on the cheek, and sat next to her boyfriend.    
"Oh, well I just had a few things to pack up in my room, and a bit of last minute studying to do."  Hermione glanced at Ron, who seemed a bit put-offish around her, but considering the conversation she had overheard, maybe he was in a different state of mind than he had been even yesterday.  "Ron, are you feeling ok?"

"Sure, I feel fine Hermione, why?"  Ron's cheeks began to redden at the extra attention.

"Well you just seem really quiet today."  Hermione pressed him some more.  Ron's face took on another shade of crimson.  
"Actually Hermione, if you're not busy after this, I was wondering if you'd like to take a walk out by the lake, so we could just, you know, talk"

"That sounds great, I'm actually not that hungry, so if you're ready…"  Ron  nearly jumped out of his seat, anxious to get the impending conversation over with.  Harry shot him a questioning glance, which he was careful to avoid.  Hermione took Ron's hand and they walked out of the Hall towards the main entrance, and then out towards the lake.  

They had silently made their way to the sandy banks of the water, when both attempted to begin speaking at once.  
"Ron I-"

"Hermio-" ok, you start.  Hermione took a deep breath and just started letting it out, with words of course.  
"Ron I was just thinking of how I want to try something different, and with you going off with the Cannons, maybe we should take a break and I know this is coming out of nowhere but I've already made arrangements and I won't be working in England after we graduate and I'm sorry and I still love you but it's just going to be difficu-"

"Shhh…Hermione, I understand, I was actually going to talk to you about the same thing.  I love you more than anything Hermione, but I just want to take some time to be young and it will be difficult when I'm off touring with the team, and I don't want you to feel neglected.  But wait, why won't you be working in England?"  At this point Ron was holding Hermione in his arms.  He gently brushed a piece of her hair back from her face, and calmly gazed into her eyes, though inside he was feeling anything but calm

***What is she doing???  Not working in England???  Is she breaking up with me?  This can't be happening. I mean, I just wanted to talk to her about how we would make this work with me traveling, but if she doesn't want to be with me.  What am I going to do?  I could never love anyone else.  Oh Hermione, please come to your senses… * **Ron continued to plead inwardly with his true love, hoping she was maybe possibly joking, but knowing all too well the determined look set upon her beautiful face.  Hermione gazed into the ocean blue eyes of her lover, broke the embrace, turned, and walked swiftly away.  She wiped the tears from her face as she made her way back up to the castle, never looking  back.


	3. glimpse

A/N: thanks for the reviews!  I have a vague idea of where I'm going with this, but nothing concrete, any suggestions?  Please keep reviewing!

Disclaimer:  I own nothing

As Hermione continued her trek back towards the castle she heard a quiet sneeze off to her right, on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.  Curiosity got the best of her, she wiped her face briskly and made her way towards the sneeze.  The seventh year crept up to a slight indent in the forest edge, hidden away from prying eyes, yet still not inside the forest.  Her eyes widened in amazement as she spotted a small glowing figure huddling over what looked like a small anthill.  She crouched down a bit, though there was nothing to take cover behind, and listened in guiltily.

"Now, now, you know you don't want to make that move little one!"  The figure scooped up a tiny blob, looked it square in the eye, and placed it neatly back on the ground.  He, or it, continued to circle the "anthill" making slight adjustments here and there, prodding, poking, and speaking on occasion.  "Yes dear, you build that, go right ahead, that seems like a great idea, but you definitely shouldn't be hanging around that blonde man, definitely the brown-headed one is more suited to you, but we'll speak of that later, I have a visitor right now."  Hermione stood entranced by the small creature, to the point where she didn't even notice that she had been spotted until he began walking towards her and looked her directly in the eye.  "finding me quite interesting, are you?"

            "Oh, uh, I  I didn't mean to stare, I just I thought I heard something and…."

            "Yes yes, I know dear, I know so much, as do you, but I would venture to say that our areas of knowledge are far apart from each other"  The creature gazed intently on Hermione's frame, somewhat sizing her up, until his view shifted to look Hermione directly in the eyes.

            "How, I mean- what do you mean?"  Hermione tried  not to seem afraid, and subtly began wiping the sweat from her palms on the back of her robes, hoping the creature would not notice.  She tried to make her voice sound more confident, though she felt that somehow, she could not hide much from this mysterious being, " And who are you anyways?  I haven't seen you around the school grounds before, and I'm surely not familiar with what kind of creature you are, not to be rude-"

            "No Miss Granger, do not worry, it takes quite a bit to get me riled up," the creature chuckled, "now to answer a few of your questions.  You haven't seen me around before because I choose to whom and when I will show myself, I rarely spend time with anyone besides Albus Dumbledore, with whom I often take my afternoon tea."

            Hermione couldn't help but cut in " but then who were you talking to over there?" as she pointed in the direction of the mysterious anthill, she found herself coming closer towards it.  She absentmindedly stepped closer and closer to the small mound, questions floating around her mind. ***he must be okay if he knows Dumbledore…but maybe he is just a bit crazy, and talking to dirt mounds?  But how did he know my name?  Who is this thing really?? * **As she continued to approach, she felt the creature shadowing her path, following her towards his project.  When she reached the mound, she looked down, and saw a blur of movement.  The girl got down on her hands and knees, squinting, trying to figure out what to make of it.  As things began to come into focus, Hermione started picking out small buildings, vehicles, and tiny people, in what could only be described as a miniature world.  She sat there in awe, until the creature made a slight "ahem" which sourly reminded Hermione of Umbridge.

"Admiring my work?  It has taken me quite a while to get it really going, but now that the children are all grown up, it's quite an interesting piece.  You never know what they're going to do next!  Though I do tend to poke into their business every now and then, drop a bit of advice, little scolding, you know…"

            Hermione's eyes widened, "But those are people down there…and you're using them like toys!" she suddenly awakened to what she was witnessing, and took a few steps back.

            "Now Miss Granger, there is no need to take offense, these people are quite happy actually, and I find it very unsuitable that you choose to judge so quickly and insult so vehemently someone whose name you do not even know."  Hermione found herself caught off guard by this turnaround and for once, was actually speechless.  "The name is Quibley, by the way, and I would suggest, Miss Granger, that you take some time to sort out your own actions before rushing to judge mine!"  Quibley snapped around towards his project, his mind formulating a proper lesson for the young woman. "yes Miss Granger, I am well aware of your current predicament, your relationship with Mr. Weasley, the young life now growing in your stomach, and…your impending future…"  Quibley felt as though a light bulb had gone off over his head, before he could talk himself out of it, he began speaking the words of the spell.  "PRIORI DICION FUTURSE"  Before Hermione knew what was happening she felt the ground move up, the sky move down, and everything in between move every which way possible, and all she heard, in her sudden state of nausea, was "TAKE A GLIMPSE, MISS GRANGER, AND SEE WHAT YOU ARE GETTING YOURSELF INTO"

            Hermione felt herself lying in a very comfortable bed, her eyes fluttered open, and she caught sight of white walls, white sheets, and a sterile, white room.  "MOM!  Mom you're awake!  What happened?  They pulled me out of school and sent me in a cab to the hospital, they said you just passed out, what happened? Are you okay?…..Mom?"  Hermione looked into the eyes of a red haired, cinnamon eyed girl, who seemed to be about 14 years old and very concerned.  She sat up sharply, looked over towards the bathroom, and walked towards a mirror.  As she turned towards the glass, she saw an older, more mature looking woman, with a few wrinkles here and there, but unmistakeably Hermione.  She splashed some cold water on her face and looked up again, hoping that maybe this was some trick that she had imagined it, that the girl calling her Mom in the other room was somehow a figment of her imagination.  As she looked up and the same older face looked back at her, everything went black and she felt herself slowly falling to the floor.

"MOM!!!!  I NEED A DOCTOR IN HERE!!!"

*** So I'm taking a bit of that movie, "The Family Man" with Nick Cage…it's cute, but it'll be cuter when it's done Harry Potter style!


	4. eyes

Quibley wiped his hands together, and walked towards his project, quickly checking on the mini world.  He picked up another one of the inhabitants, and whispered gently a piece of advice before checking his watch and realizing he was running a bit late.  Quibley pointed a finger at himself and popped away towards his friend's office, he didn't want to keep Dumbledore waiting.

            "Ah, Quibley, I was beginning to wonder if you had perhaps been detained."  Dumbledore smiled jovially at his old friend, the small, glowing star fairy, one of the last of his kind.  

            "Well you  know me Albus, always one to make an entrance." Quibley smirked and took his usual seat across from Dumbledore at a small tea table set in the corner of the room.  The table was next to a large window overlooking the grounds of the school.  Quibley picked out a small red head bobbing it's way towards the main entrance, noticeably dejected.  

            "Taken notice of another student?  That always proves interesting!  Who is it this time?  Not Mr. Weasly, I presume?"  Albus had a mischevious look on his face that made him look fifty years younger.  He curiously awaited his friend's answer.

            "No, no Albus, not Weasley, but close…the eyes are the windows to the soul, you know, and from looking into your eyes, I would imagine that you already have a reasonable guess…"  The two laughed at their old saying ***the eyes are the windows to the soul** * How true it is!  

            "Ahh, you've taken Miss Granger.  Trying to show her where her current choice will take her?  Trying to play matchmaker?"  Quibley giggled slightly and nodded his head.  It was amazing, you would almost think that Dumbledore was a star fairy himself, apart from his appearance, of course.  With his abilities to look someone in the eye and know so much about them, Quibley almost felt as though he had some competition.

            "Well I'm just trying to give her a prod in the right direction.  She is in such denial, poor thing.  Thinks she's going to run off and start fresh, ha!  This will be good and healthy for her, give her a look at what would happen if she did just take off…"  Quibley sat back, took a sip of tea, and looked rather smug as his friend nodded respectfully from across the table.

            "Miss Granger certainly does enjoy lessons, but for some reason I don't see her catching on to this one very quickly."  Albus smiled imagining the young Gryffindor from her first year, always at the top of the class, always determined to be right.  Quibley sighed and took the time to refresh Dumbledore a  bit on his magic.

            "Oh, you know it will be done with once she admits she was wrong.  Then she will be right back here, right where she started, ready to fix the one mistake she has to admit to."

            "Yes Quibley, I am well aware of how your powers work, I just wish I could look in on Miss Granger's most valuable lesson yet."  The two sat back in their chairs sipping quietly on tea and turned the conversation towards the more mundane things, weather, plans for the summer, and so on, both wondering exactly what problem Hermione Granger sat faced with at that very moment, somewhere in the potential future…


	5. now

"Ms. Granger seems fine, we won't need to keep her overnight.  After she wakes up, give her the proper forms and have her discharged."

            "Understood Doctor Sundstrom."  Hermione heard snippets of conversation while drifting in and out of consciousness.  She quietly stirred and her eyes fluttered open, darting to and from all corners of the room suspiciously.  Her vision was slightly blurred, so she lifted a slender hand towards her eyes and rubbed gently, vaguely aware of a figure coming towards her.

            "Mom!  What happened?  They said you fell and had a concussion, are you okay?"  Hermione, in her groggy state, slowly tried piecing together her current situation ***okay, she's calling me Mom…well I guess that wasn't a dream earlier, and I'm obviously in a hospital, I've fallen, I've had a concussion, perhaps a bit of amnesia…oh, no need to stay here any longer than necessary.  But the last thing I remember…oh shit!  That little thing!  He did this!  If I just go back to Hogwarts, I can find him and make him fix this… * **

            "Hogwarts!  We need to go to Hogwarts!"  Hermione blurted out to her somewhat frazzled-looking daughter.  

            "What's Hogwarts, Mom?"  the girl slowly put her hands around her mother's chin and turned the older woman's face to make her look her directly in the eye.  "Listen to me, Mom, I am your daughter, my name is Winter W Granger.  Your name is Hermione Anne Granger.  We live in Boston, Massachusetts…" the girl's voice trailed off as her mother nodded along with her, sucking in every piece of information. "Mom, you need to pull yourself together, here." Winter continued to scan her mother's face, looking for the slightest hint of recognition, while slowly becoming more frightened.  Hermione, not wanting to alarm the beautiful girl claiming to be her daughter, suddenly snapped back into the present, into what supposedly was, for now, reality.

            "Winter, relax.  I know who I am, I know who you are, just relax, everything is going to be fine.  Now, I know you are thoroughly enjoying acting so very condescending towards me, so get over it, and call that doctor in here, I want to get out of here."  Hermione had already made up her mind to play along, though she made this decision solely based on the small face gazing upon her own, calling her mother.  Her newfound voice and statement received a sigh of relief from the young girl who smiled warmly at her mother, and proceeded out of the room in search of the doctor.  When Winter returned, it was not with a doctor, but with a large, mannish looking nurse, who had a clipboard and a bulky plastic bag.

            "Sign here," the nurse commanded, watching Hermione slowly sign her name agreeing that she understood the treatments she had received and that she should not fall asleep for at least 12 hours.  The nurse nodded at Hermione and handed her the bag, which Hermione began to dig through like a lost treasure.  Clothes, shoes, aha!  A purse!  She reached into the small black back, rummaging around for any bits of information she could get.  Hermione opened the small leather wallet she had pulled out of the purse, flipping through a stack of plastic, credit cards, library card, gym card…license!  She looked down onto her own familiar face and read the address out loud, thankful her daughter seemed to be of an age where she would know how to find their home, because Hermione wasn't going to be able to.

The two women walked towards the main entrance of the hospita quietly, both brains moving a million miles a minute.  Hermione decided to slowly begin feeling out her predicament, "So, um, Winter, do you have any plans tonight?"  Hermione expectantly looked down at the girl, gazing intently on the face that looked like the perfect mix of herself and Ron.  Winter shook her head, pushed open the door to exit onto the street, and began walking towards the subway.  Hermione continued, "Maybe we could do something with your father?"  Winter shot Hermione a look of pure shock and outrage.

            "WHAT??  What are you talking about, my father?  What father, Mom?  How hard did you hit your head?  It's just you and me…just like it's always been…" Winter's voice faded off softly, as her pace quickened toward the trains.  Hermione called after her daughter,

            "Wait!"  Hermione quickened her pace to catch up, she followed her daughter onto the train, and found a seat, luckily it wasn't rush hour.  "I'm sorry. I must have forgotten.  I'm really sorry Winter."  

            "Yeah, just save it."  The two spent the rest of the trip home in silence, from the train to the apartment neither spoke a word.  Upon entering a lovely apartment, Hermione was complimenting herself on her decorating skills as she heard a door slam to one of the bedrooms.  She sat down on the soft light green couch, and let out a deep breath.  The living room was fairly large, and almost every wall was lined with bookshelves, except for a small space left for a television.  Most of the shelves were filled with books of all sizes, though a few shelves had picture frames on them, filled with laughing smiling people.  Hermione slipped her shoes off and padded over to these shelves.  She scanned the pictures, looking for a familiar face, and found none.  All the pictures were of her daughter, Winter.  Winter at a soccer game, Winter's first dance recital, Winter on the beach.  Not one gave her a clue as to her standing in the Wizarding world.  Looking around the apartment, except for her daughter's room, whose door was closed and had a "do not enter" sign on it, Hermione found herself completely surrounded by the muggle world, without a trace of magic at all, she couldn't even find her wand.  

            Hermione became distraught at this knowledge, and starting searching high and low, looking for her most treasured possession.  There weren't many hiding places in the apartment, as she was extremely organized.  She went into her bedroom and sat down on a nice queen sized bed.  Hermione's eyes combed the room, searching to no avail.  She let her head down, gazing into her own lap, her vision wandered over to the bedside table, and the single drawer occupying it.  She reached for the drawer, pulled it out, hoping against all hope she would find her wand there.  She was met by a mostly empty drawer with a blank beige book inside.  Hermione picked up the worn book, and opened it up to be met with her own writing. * **Well, it's not my wand, but it's as close to a jackpot as I'll get today…***  Hermiones eyes rolled over the pages of her own journal, filling her in on the details of her own life up to this point.  She finished reading the last sentence and drifted off to sleep, millions of thoughts floating in her head, and that last sentence repeating itself and repeating itself over and over again: "I don't know what I've done with my life, but worse yet, I don't know what I've done to my daughter…"  
 


	6. Mistake

Hermione yawned and starting blinking the sleepiness away from her eyes.  She stretched, yawned again, and looked around. * **Ok, not a dream, still here…what to do?***  She planted her feet on the plush carpet and began putting together a comfortable, yet "adult" outfit.  There was a lot that Hermione had to get done today, and number one on the list was getting back on speaking terms with Winter.  She opened the door to her room and walked out towards the noises coming from the kitchen.  Her pace quickened as she took in the scents of sizzling bacon and salty eggs.  Turning into the kitchen, she was met by a sheepish grin.  "I guess this means I'm forgiven?"  Hermione ventured.

"Well, I guess you might say that…or I could be trying to poison you!"  Winter smiled wryly and began distributing the breakfast as her mother sat down.  "Bacon, eggs, toast, what am I forgetting, oh! Orange juice!"  Winter opened the fridge and pulled out the Tropicana.  She poured two glasses and then took her seat across from her mother, who was looking at her intently.  "Something on my face?"  the redhead giggled.  

"No, no nothing's on your face, except for like a million freckles!"  At this Winter balled up her napkin and threw it at her mother.  Hermione ducked quickly out of the way, then righted herself smiling wickedly.  "So what's the plan for today?"

"No plan." Winter mumbled through a bite of scrambled eggs.  "You got any ideas?"  She looked curiously at her mother.

"Well…actually I was thinking we could go to London…"  Hermione let this out slowly, trying to gage her daughter's reaction, which was a fit of giggles.  The giggles promptly ended though, when Winter's laughing eyes met Hermione's unmistakenly serious face.  Hermione rushed out the rest, "I mean there's just so much to see there, and it's where I'm from, I just thought it was about time I showed you around a bit.  If we have nothing else to do, that is"

"Wow!  London!  You're serious?? When do we leave?  I can't believe it Mom!  I've never even been to Canada, and now we're going to London? In Europe!  Oh my god!"  Winter bounced out of her chair and jumped around the kitchen, hugging Hermione, jumping around some more, and hugging Hermione again.    
            "Ok, slow down.  I have to see if there are any flights today, if so, we can leave this afternoon.  So while I start making arrangements, why don't you pack some things?"  Winter proceeded to bounce her way out of the kitchen, when suddenly her head poked back in and asked,

"Will we visit Nana and Gramps?"  To which Hermione nodded.  The 'older' woman finished off her breakfast and sat at the table sighing.  Plan?  I guess you could call it a plan, though Hermione had no idea what she would do once she arrived in London.  Possibly drop Winter off at her parents before heading over to The Leaky Cauldron to do some investigating.  She had to get in touch with Dumbledore.  And what about Harry, and Ron?  Could she really have gone all these years without her two best friends.  Hermione's eyes sweeped over the picture frames from which her two best friends were absent and acknowledged to herself what she already knew.  She had left them all without a word, abandoned the ministry, and started over, with the only clue to her past being her own journal, telling the story of an incomplete life without the ones she loved the most.  It was time to set things right.  Hermione clenched her teeth and got to packing, ready to fix the mistake that was her future.


	7. reunion

Hermione looked over at her sleeping daughter, wishing that she could also be konked out at a time like this, rather than anxiously twiddling her thumbs.  She stared out the window some more, watching the ocean so many miles below, both dreading and hoping for land to come into view.  Hermione finally thought she caught a glimpse of lights in the distance, but didn't know whether it was her imagination or her tired mind playing tricks on her again.  She waved for the flight attendant's attention.  "Excuse me, how much longer until we're at Heathrow?"

"Oh, not long at all, maybe about twenty minutes.  If you look out from your window, you could probably start seeing lights." The kind flight attendant responded.  So she wasn't imagining things, home was close, very close, though the kind of home that would be there to greet her was playing against her thoughts.  

The rest of the flight was rather short, though for Hermione it felt like an eternity.  Hermione woke her daughter and they grabbed their carry-on bags and exited the plane.  As they walked out the long corridor, Hermione broke into a grin.  Winter picked up the pace a bit upon sighting her grandparents, and finally the two girls broke into a run, ending in a tight embrace.

"Hermione, it's so good to see you darling!  Though this is a bit more last minute than I would have expected from you."  Mrs. Granger spoke to her daughter over Winter's bushy red hair.  Hermione smiled and began chatting hurriedly with her dad, who hugged her, held her out at arms length to look at her, then hugged her again.

"Oh Dad it's so good to see you!"  Hermione exclaimed, though she was a bit anxious on the plane to see how her parents had aged, she was pleasantly surprised to see that they looked almost exactly the same, plus a couple of gray hairs and wrinkles.  

"Jelly Bean it's great to see you too!  Let's go get the rest of your luggage."  Hermione blushed at being called her old nickname and followed her father for a short distance to the baggage claim.  They lifted Hermione and Winter's bags off of the claim and were lead outside by an exceptionally buoyant Winter.

"And I scored the goal and won the game, but that isn't even the most interesting part, Gramps, I won MVP at the end of the season.  But school was good too, and there was this girl there who tried beating me in the spelling bee, but she couldn't…" 

"Whoa Winter, slow down, you will have plenty of time to tell them everything…as will I…"  Hermione mumbled the last bit, but her father's ears were better than even she remembered.

"And what exactly did you need to tell us?"  Mr. Granger whispered to his daughter aside from Winter and Mrs. Granger.

"Oh Dad," Hermione sighed, "I have to fix things in the wizarding world.  I have to find out what happened to Ron and Harry."  **and me*** Hermione thought the last part to herself.  She looked up into her father's eyes and saw nothing but understanding.  "I thought we could head home for now, get a good nights sleep, then I wanted to start checking things out tomorrow."  Mr. Granger nodded in agreement, taking the keys from his pocked in a fluid motion and unlocking the car just as Winter and Mrs. Granger approached.  The four headed off to the Granger residence.  There was no need to put the radio on in the car, Winter was buzzing about every little detail in her life she could think of, even though most of it had already been told over the phone.  As they drove down a particularly long road, Hermione drifted off, having one of the most peaceful dreams she would ever remember in her entire life. 


	8. an

Thank you Hedwig55!  Chp 7, reunion, was written right after I read your review!  

Now I have more of an idea where I am going with the story, and will probably be posting more often.  Thanks for the reviews, though there aren't many….L  please review, or at least read the story and try to telepathically send me whatever it is you think of it…ok, too much sci fi, fantasy for Michelle…


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